ISTE, Me, and Accessibility


 

One of my primary preoccupations as a librarian is with access and equity.  Having worked my whole career thus far in a high-poverty district, I understand better than many the absolute necessity of ensuring that all students have equal opportunities to develop skills and access resources, particularly when those students find themselves faced with no home internet, uncertain housing, and food insecurity.   

As the ISTE blog (Valenzuela, 2022) notes, “As a digital society, we’ve widely accepted the notion that rights and freedoms of expression, beliefs and pursuits are for all. Unfortunately, for some, this is just lip service.”  In essence, everyone *wants* to believe that technology is the great equalizer, providing complete and perfect access to information for everyone.  My own school district, in fact, follows this philosophy, using a 1:1 laptop distribution model; every single student in the county is issued their own, personal laptop for daily use, at all grade levels.   

Unfortunately, where this approach falls short is in its lack of imagination.  Yes, my student may *have* a laptop, but what about access to stable internet in the home?  What about parents willing to take on the $700 risk of the student potentially losing their device or having it stolen?  What about students for whom “home” is in constant flux, who might leave a laptop in their room on one weekend, only to be unable to retrieve it for months? 

Simply throwing technology at the issue and calling it a day isn’t enough- an “equity mindset” (Valenzuela, 2022) is needed to consider all aspects of technology implementation.  In this way, the school librarian is well-positioned to facilitate the integration of technology into oft-neglected populations.  By facilitating project-based learning, securing access to educational software, and providing professional learning opportunities to teachers, the librarian can help lead the charge on tech integration in their school. 

References 

Valenzuela, J. (2022). 3 ways to ensure all students have access to computer science. ISTE. https://iste.org/blog/3-ways-to-ensure-that-all-students-have-access-to-computer-science#:~:text=Equity%20in%20CS%20requires%20an,equitably%2C%20in%20succession%20and%20effectively 

 

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